New Zealand was actively involved in the process to develop a Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and was among the first group of states to endorse the Political Declaration in Dublin in November 2022. At the endorsing conference in Dublin, New Zealand called on all states to endorse the Declaration as a meaningful contribution towards reducing civilian harm as a result of urban conflict. It also reiterated its commitment in promoting the Declaration in the Indo-Pacific region with a view to achieving its universalisation and full implementation. 1
New Zealand regularly delivered statements throughout the consultations towards a Political Declaration, 2 as well as raising concerns around explosive weapons in populated areas and expressing support for a Political Declaration in other multilateral forums. Early in the consultation process New Zealand highlighted four key points which it considered to be central to an effective Political Declaration: a focus on addressing the high likelihood of harm to civilians and civilian objects when explosive weapons with wide area effects are used in populated areas and an acknowledgment that this harm includes the indirect or reverberating effects; a focus on compliance with existing obligations under International Humanitarian Law (IHL); add value from a policy perspective, in particular through practical guidance on how to respond to the challenges of protecting civilians and civilian objects during conflict in urban areas; and the Political Declaration should not be an end in itself but rather a launching pad for further engagement and action to address the harm caused by explosive weapons. 3
These points were often reflected in New Zealand’s statements to the consultations as they progressed. In the second round of consultations, New Zealand said that the Political Declaration should be as clear as possible about what it is adding to ensure IHL can be better implemented with respect to the use of EWIPA and supported the inclusion of an implementation process for the Declaration. 4 In later consultations it opposed the use of the word “refrain”, considering it insufficient when the use of weapons that are inherently indiscriminate is prohibited outright under IHL. New Zealand also encouraged the inclusion of detail and specificity on what could be considered unclear terms such as “indirect” and “reverberating” as well as regarding obligations such as military cooperation and sharing of good practices. 5 Alongside numerous other states it opposed the use of qualifiers such as “can cause harm” in the text and supported an expanded list of direct effects of explosive weapons in populated areas including the destruction of hospitals. 6 New Zealand also expressed support for a follow-up mechanism and spoke on the importance of any and all follow-up processes retaining inclusivity toward and participation of civil society organizations. 7
Statements and positions
New Zealand attended the first international implementation conference on the Political Declaration in Oslo, Norway in April 2024, and the second implementation conference in San Jose, Costa Rica in November 2025.
At the Oslo 2024 conference, New Zealand shared that its implementation efforts have required close collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the New Zealand Defence Force. This has “included a stocktake of our existing work to understand what we are already doing well, and to identify areas we could improve, such as routinely raising implementation and universalisation in military-to-military exchanges”. New Zealand drew attention to three concrete examples of its policies and practices pertaining to the Declaration. The “Defence Force’s Manual of Armed Forces Law recognises from the outset that armed conflict is now frequently conducted in areas inhabited by civilians, including refugees and displaced persons. The Manual, and training of all soldiers and officers throughout their careers includes comprehensive information on our obligations under international law.” New Zealand recently refreshed its criteria for assessing proposed exports of military, dual-use and catch-all goods under its domestic controls regime, explicitly listing the Political Declaration in its assessment criteria, committing exports to be consistent with it. New Zealand shared that its Defence Force “strives to include Legal Advisers in each deployment where kinetic targeting may be involved” to ensure that its activities always are in line with international humanitarian law. New Zealand also stated that its recently released Disarmament and Arms Control Strategy for 2024-26 makes specific reference to the Declaration, and directs its efforts towards uptake and implementation, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. 8
New Zealand has on several occasions spoken on explosive weapons in populated areas in multilateral forums, primarily to stress the grave destruction caused by use of explosive weapons in populated areas, including destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of such use including displacement. New Zealand issued statements on explosive weapons in populated areas at UN Security Council Open Debates on the Protection of Civilians in February 2013, 9 May 2017, 10 and in May 2019. 11 It also referred to the explosive weapons in populated areas at UN General Assembly First Committee in 2015, 12 urging to explore ways to minimise harm from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
New Zealand also issued a statement at the UN General Assembly First Committee Debate on Conventional Weapons in October 2016, welcoming the process for a Political Declaration on explosive weapons in populated areas. 13 In 2017, New Zealand stressed the “downstream consequences” of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas at the UN General Assembly First Committee. 14 New Zealand reiterated its views at the 2018 UN General Assembly First Committee, 15 and in 2023 and 2024 repeated its call for states to join the Political Declaration, including states from the Indo-Pacific region. 16 At the same meeting in 2024, New Zealand stated that civilian harm in conflict is at alarming levels, including due to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, expressed deep concern about the extensive use of explosive weapons in the Middle East, and called on all States to join and give practical effect to the Declaration in their own policies and practices on explosive weapons use. This, New Zealand stated, “starts with acknowledgement of the harm these weapons are causing”. It also called on all parties to the conflicts to facilitate rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access to those in need, and to provide victim assistance. 17
Similarly, at the 2024 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, New Zealand took the opportunity to highlight the Political Declaration, stating that “as conflicts waged in urban areas worsen and civilians are disproportionately impacted, we call on all States to join and give practical effect to this Declaration in their own policies and practices.” 18
Alongside its individual statements, New Zealand has repeatedly aligned with other states to deliver statements on explosive weapons in populated areas. At the 2025 UN General Assembly’s First Committee, the joint statement by Canada, Australia and New Zealand noted “the deployment of explosive weapons in densely populated areas has caused untold humanitarian harm” in Gaza and flagged the Political Declaration alongside other disarmament instruments, emphasising that adhering to and implementing them “is a demonstration of our commitment to IHL and the rules-based system”. 19 In 2018 and 2019, it joined some 50 and 71 states respectively to endorse joint statements on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas at the UN General Assembly First Committee, calling attention to the devastating and long-lasting humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and urging states to reverse the trend of high levels of civilian harm. 20
New Zealand also aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in May 2016, including: “Commit to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.”21 It supported the statement by Austria to the World Humanitarian Summit in which Austria pledged to continue to engage in raising international awareness about the challenge for the protection of civilians in armed conflict posed by the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas and committed to support the collection of data on civilian harm. 22
Implementation of the Political Declaration
In February 2024, INEW and EWM conducted a survey into endorser states' national efforts to disseminate and implement the Political Declaration; and in May 2025 EWM conducted a second survey. 23
Responding to the surveys, New Zealand reported that it has nominated a point person responsible for the implementation of the Declaration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), which leads its all-of-government coordination for the Declaration. In the lead up to, and following the adoption of the Political Declaration, MFAT engaged with the Ministry of Defence, New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), and its diplomatic network, to disseminate information. MFAT and NZDF have provided briefings to the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control, and in August 2024 MFAT published ‘New Zealand’s Report on the Domestic Implementation of International Humanitarian Law’, which references the EWIPA Declaration as one of its commitments. 24
A national review conducted during the endorsement process found that existing defence policies and practices were already consistent with the Declaration’s aims.
New Zealand also flagged its Disarmament and Arms Control Strategy 2024–2026 which explicitly references the Declaration as part of its objective to advance humanitarian disarmament norms. New Zealand include EWIPA considerations in pre-deployment briefings, inter-agency exercises, and civil-military coordination training. New Zealand in particular links training on civilian-harm mitigation to its Defence Force Order 35, which mandates incident reporting, centralised civilian harm data storage, and lessons-learned processes. New Zealand also stated that its updated export control regime explicitly lists the Political Declaration as an example of non-binding commitment with which a proposed export should be consistent. 25
In addition, it has “identified that further work could be done to promote the update and implementation of the Declaration through the course of existing and international engagements and military-to-military exchanges.” To achieve this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is working with the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces to identify relevant opportunities. 26 New Zealand has also promoted the Declaration’s principles through disarmament dialogues and IHL forums, helping to raise awareness among non-endorsing states. 27